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PROD'GIIN OF IMITATIN lONYXPM PYRXYLIN GMPOUNDS. Patentd Sept, 17, 1895.

' -NO Mmm.)

UNITED i STATES PATE-NT Price.

JOHN H. STEVENS, OF NEVVARK,`A ND EDWIN D. HARRISON, OF IRVING- ToN, NEWJERSEY, AssIcNoRs To THE NEW YORK, N. Y.`

CELLULOID OOMPANY, OF

PRODUCTION OF IMITATION ONYX; FROM PYROXYLlN COMPOUNDS.

SPEGIFICATION formng part of Letters Patent No. 546,360, dated September17, 1895.

Application filed June 5, 1895. Serial No. 551,717. (No spe'cimens.)

To aZZ whom it may oonccrn:

Be it known that we, J oHN H. STEvnNs, of

the city of Newark, and EDWIN D. HAERISON, of the village of Irvington,county of Essex, State of New Jersey, have made certain new and usefulImprovements in the Production of Imitation Onyx from PyroxylinOornpounds, of which the following is a specification, reference beinghad to the accotnpanying drawings,wherein similar letters refer to likeparts in the figures.

Figure l shows a pair of rolls in section and superimposed sheets ofproxyline material. Fig. 2 shows the appearance of the light-tintedmaterial when the rolling is partially completed. Fig. 3 shows a roughsheet of the light-tinted material after rolling; Fig. 4, a pile of suchsheets with the veins or streaks of darker color breaking through andacross the edges of the strata. Fig. 5 shows the slab made from theaforesaid pile with a sheet partly planed therefrom. Fig. 6 shows themanner of preparing the material for a stuffing-machine. Fig. 7 shows arod, and Fig. 8 shows a tube of our imitation onyx.

Solid or massive pyroxyline compounds, as is well known, oWe theircommercial importance largely to their susceptibility to coloringtreatment and manipulations essential to the production of imitations ofnatural substances--like mottled amber, tortoise-shell, vened ivory,carnelian, &c. Owing to the peculiar nature of these compounds,involving rapid changes in hardness and plasticity and the necessary useof varying temperatures, the treatment is surrounded with difficultiesdistinct from those ordinarily encountered in working with other plasticcompositions. Hence the evolution of processes rendering possible theSuccessful production of pleasing imitations has been slow, the methodsemployed as described in the various foreign and United States patentsrelating to this subject not yet being suftlcient to enable the skilledoperator to produce many desirable effects demanded by the trade.

The production in a pyroxyline com position of an artiicial-veined onyxhas long been desired, and so far as we are aware this has never beenaccomplished prior to our inventon. VVe have, however, invented a newmethod :for the manufacture of an imitation of onyx which exhibits thestratifled cloudlike markings of pale tints with the strong yellow orbrown color breaking through in a direction opposed to the trend of thelighter strata, as follows: VVe prepare a mixture of soluble pyroxylineand suitable solvents (preferably camphor associated with either ethylicor methylic alcohol) of such Well-known proportions as form a softcombination suitable for masticati'on in rolls or equivalent apparatus.Before adding the coloring-matter we separate this mixture into two ormore parts, each proportioned in quantity to the corresponding quantityof each of the different light tints desired in the completed artificialonyx. VI e then subject each of these parts separately to the action ofthe rolls, adding whatever color or pigment is necessary to produce theshade desired to the cornpouud during the rolling process. There arethus produced crudely-converted separate masses representiug as many ofthe different light tints as are desired in the completed product. Thesecrudely-converted masses of different shades of color should be of asofter consistency than the final freshly-formed ouyx coinbinations, inorder to cause asinooth tiow of the materials in the rolls and preventaragged or abrnpt appearance of the strata in the next step of theOperation. I

The next step in our process consists in rolling these separate anddilferently-tinted masses, by means of the rolls,into rough sheets, (sayabout one-half inch in thichness and twenty by thirty inches superficialarea, more or less, according to the size of the batch or of the rollseniployed.) These rough sheets of different tints o and b, Fig. l of theaccompanying drawings, are next placed together face to face (one sheetof each tint) and passed through the rolls c in such a manner that theyadhere as one mass to one of the rolls and, coming around, meet the lastend of the combined superimposed sheets, as represented in Fig. 1, thusforming a continuous mass d, Fig. 2, which we permit to revolve,

and thus flood, as at e, Fig. 2, at the interseotion of the rolls(regulating the distance between the rolls by meehanieal means) for sucha length of time as will produce the amount of mixing desired. lVe nextcut and strip the mass partly from the roll-say once or twiceflandpermit it to become a revolving mass again to insure a more uniformmixing. When the combination of colors is such as to represent thelighter part of the onyx, (which can be det'ermined by slicing off atest-piece occasionaliy,) the mass d is stripped from theroll and laidon a fiat surface, and then appears like a rough thiek sheet of combinedlight tints lying approximately in horiontal planes or strata, as shownin Fig. 3. An analogous resuit, but somewhat inferior, can beaccomplished by cutting the separately tinted masses into small pieeesand repeatedly passing them colleetively-and parallel with each other`through the roils until they are flattened and mixed into a mass orsheet the planes of Whose strata fairly coincide with the surface of thesheet.

Our next step is to produce an imitation of the raw yellow orbrownstreaks or veins of the natural onyx. This is effeeted by eutting thefiat stratified sheetthus prod need transversely and across the strataof light tints, regulating the shape, obliquity of the cut, or closenessof the out places to each other, according to the particular sample ofreal onyx to be imitated. Into these cuts ordivisions we next introducetiuid having a dark yellow or brown color, and this may be made eitherof a coloringmatter dissolved in alcohol or, preferably, a soluble colorcombined with dissolved pyroxyline, or even a sheet of soft yellow orbrown pyroxyline Composition can be used. The crude sheets thus made andcontaining horizontal strata of light tints with yellowor browntransverse perpendicular or oblique veins or lines of eolorf, Fig. 4,are next cut into suitable sizes and piled so as to form a number ofsuperimposed fiat sheets, as shown in Fg. 4. These are placedoollectively within a chase and the chase put upon the bed-plate of apress, and by means of a plunger the sheets are compressed, whileheated, into a solid block or cake. From this block, when cooled, we maycut sheets by means of a planing or veneering machine. Such a block,with a sheet partly cut therefrom, is shown in Fig. 5.

The finished sheets exhibit the lighter tints of onyx in cloud-likefigures erossed with yellow or brown veins or bars of color with theirplanes in a direction transverse to those of the lighter tints, and thesheets so closely resemble genuine onyx that the mostV pleasing effectscan be produced in articles out or moided from them. We also form rodsor tubes by forcing the freshly-rolled product (in the Conditionsuitable for molding into a block) through a heated eylinder or thecylinder of one of the well-known stuffing-maohines used in this art,gradually narrowed down, so as to contract the material into a smallorilice, from which it emerges through a nozzle suitable for forming arod or tube. lVe place it in the cylinder in pieces, so arranged in amass that the strata of yellow or brown will present their edges to thefiat side of a lateral cross-section of a rod or tube so formed. A masssuitable for this purpose, With the strata f2 properly arrangcd, isshown in Fig. 6. A finished rod is shown in Fig. 7 and a` tube in Fig.8.

Methods of coloring the pyroxyline compesitions used are well known andit is unneeessary to describe the coloring-matter or pigments used. Inusing the terms horizontal or i perpendicular, as indicating theposition of the strata, we mean to indicate their position or trend, ascoinpared with each other.

XVhat we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The method of produeing a pyroxyline eompound in imitation of onyx,eonsisting, first, in fo'rming the light tinted parts in solidifiedstrata; second, eutting through these strata across their edges; third,inserting coloring matter between the out parts, and, fourth,solidifying the whole into blocks, shapes or masses, subst-antially asdescribed.

2. The method of produeing a pyroxyline eompound in imitation of onyx,eonsisting, first, in forming the light-tinted parts in solidifiedstrata; second, cutting through these strata across their edges; third,inserting a pyroxyline Composition of a different color between the cntparts, and, fourth, solidifying the whole into blocks, shapes or masses,substantially as described.

3. A pyroxyline componnd in imitation of onyx, consisting of two or morelight tints in solidified strata with lines of a different colorbreaking through or crossing the edges of these light tinted strata,substantially as d'escribed.

Lt. A rod or sheet of pyroxylinecomposition in imitation of onyx,consisting of two or more light tints with streaks of a darker colorbreaking through or interspersed with the lighter tints, substantiallyas described.

JOHN H. STEVENS. EDWIN D. HARRISON. Witnesses:

GEORGE S. PoLLARD, OnoIL H. MAOMAHON.

ICQ

It is hereby eertfied that the assignee in Letters Patent No. 546,360,granted September 17, 1895, upon the application of John H. Stevens, ofNewark, and Edwn D. Harrson, of Irvington, New Jersey, for animprovement in the Preduetion of Imitaton Onyx from Pyroxylne Oompounds,should have been described and specified as the C'elluloid Company, ofNew York, N. Y., a cmpomt'ion of New Jersey, nstead of the CelluloidCompany, of New York, N. Y.; and that the said Letters Patent should beread with this correetion therein that the same may conform to therecord of the case in the Patent Ofice.

Signed, eountersgned, and sealed this 29th day of October, A. D. 1895. 0

[SEAL] JNO. M. REYNOLDS,

Assstcmt Secretary of'the Interior.

Countersigned S. T. FISHER,

Acting Gommssimwr of Patents.

